Some Middletown officials seek labor agreement

Tuesday

Mar 30, 2010 at 2:00 AM

MIDDLETOWN — As the Middletown School District's new elementary school project is about to go out to bid, two board members and the city's mayor are asking the district to consider a project labor agreement.

BY HEATHER YAKIN

MIDDLETOWN — As the Middletown School District's new elementary school project is about to go out to bid, two board members and the city's mayor are asking the district to consider a project labor agreement.

Board members Nick Mauro and Roy Paul want a PLA. Paul said such an agreement would guarantee priority hiring and good wages for local workers. "It is also good for local students, unions, city workers seeking jobs and looking to learn a trade, something we need in these tough economic times," Paul said.

A project labor agreement negotiates the rules of play for a large construction project: work schedules, wage rates, fringe benefits, hiring, dispute resolution and the like. PLAs can foster the use of local labor and can require job training and apprentice programs.

On March 19, Middletown Mayor Joe DeStefano — who enjoys strong union support and who wants the Common Council to consider PLAs for all city projects over $250,000 — sent a letter to the school board suggesting the district consider a PLA for the new school and offering to set up meetings with local labor leaders.

"All I'm asking them to do is look at it," DeStefano said. "When you need to spend almost $70 million, I think you need to at least take a look at a project labor agreement."

Superintendent Ken Eastwood said the last large projects in the district — renovations and new athletic fields at the high school and repair work for other schools — were on time and on budget without PLAs, and used mostly union contractors — many of them local or using local workers.

"We have been using union labor, and we have been using local labor, and we have been obeying the law," Eastwood said.

He said he has supported PLAs in the past, before his time in Middletown. "But I'm also very cautious, and I keep in focus what's in the best interest of the district," Eastwood said.

In New York, a public entity wishing to use a PLA must hire experts for a detailed analysis showing projected cost savings and demonstrating a history of labor unrest. Public entities cannot use union-only PLAs.

"At the end, a project labor agreement is supposed to ensure a smooth project, on time," and on budget, said Alan Seidman, executive director of the Construction Contractors Association of the Hudson Valley.

In February 2009, Paul and then-board president Mauro suggested a PLA for the new school. The district's lawyers outlined the requirements, noting that the necessary analysis would cost $10,000 to $15,000.

Mauro said he dropped the issue then because Eastwood, the architects and the lawyer seemed "reluctant," and Mauro didn't have a board majority to push it through.

"I'm glad this is being brought up now, before it's too late," Mauro said.